I have a book for 8 - 12 year olds coming out in April 2018
from Zondervan that was a work-for-hire project.

Cool. We need to
feature it on the blog, too. If you could spend an evening with one contemporary
person (not a family member of yours), who would it be and why?

Joanna Gaines from the HGTV show Fixer Upper, preferably at the Magnolia Market at the Silos or at
the Magnolia Bakery. I would love to talk about houses and design, and how she
juggles it all.

Soon I’m going down
to Waco for
research on a historical novel I’m working on. We’ll, of course, visit
everything Magnolia there. Chip Gaines was one of the speakers at our church’s
Men’s Conference last year, and I volunteered in the book store, so I was able
to slip in at the back when he spoke. Loved it! What historical person would
you like to meet (besides Jesus) and why?

I would like to meet Lucy Maud Montgomery, the beloved
author of Anne of Green Gables. I
just started watching the new Netflix series Anne with an E, and it’s quite a
bit darker than the version with actress Megan Follows. I’d like to know what LM
Montgomery thinks about the interpretation and which version she’d recommend.

How can you encourage
authors who have been receiving only rejections from publishers?

I would tell writers that rejection is part of the writing
business. You need a very thick skin to keep pursuing this dream. But for all
those rejections, it only takes one publisher to say yes to see your manuscript
in print. I would highly suggest writers be traditionally published first before
attempting the self-publishing route to see what it takes to make a successful
book.

That’s good advice. I
just got a call yesterday afternoon late telling me that my latest novel, that
is an Indie published book, finaled in the Faith, Hope, and Love Reader’s
Choice Award contest. I had entered my last four traditionally published
novels, but none of them made it this far. Tell us about the featured book.

Road to Harmony is a historical romance set in 1907 in Harmony Valley, California,
about a young woman who is torn between her secret love and the shopkeeper her
parents want her to marry.

Here is the back cover copy:

Torn between love and
loyalty, will they choose the road to harmony?

A cattle thief is loose in the valley, and Elena Seifert
wants to help her father guard his dairy farm, but everyone thinks that’s a
man’s job. When her childhood sweetheart returns to Harmony, her heart is torn
between Jonas Bollinger, her secret love, and Lars Rissler, the wealthy
middle-aged storeowner her parents hope she marries.

Jonas Bollinger never imagined he’d be back in HarmonyValley, but his pa isn’t well. When
Jonas makes a promise he wishes he didn’t have to keep, he is torn between
loyalty to his family and the woman he has loved since he was a boy.

Will Elena and Jonas find the inner peace to choose love and
still do what is best for their families?

I’m eager to read it.
Please give us the first page of the book.

Harmony Valley, California, 1907

“Come out with your hands up.” Elena Seifert pointed her
father’s double barrel shotgun at the makeshift ditch trap. Man or beast, she
was prepared. No more of Papa’s dairy cows would be stolen if she had anything
to do with it.

The sun dipped behind the rolling hills, sending chills up
Elena’s arms. She lifted her head to see what she’d caught. Better not go any
closer.

“Elena, Mama’s calling for you,” Samuel drawled from behind.
“Lars will be here any minute.” Her brother’s footsteps came toward her, his
boots kicking the dirt beneath his shuffled gait.

Why did her brother pick this moment to come find her? Please,
Lord, keep him away.

Lack of oxygen at birth left Samuel with impaired
intelligence and motor skills. He was a walking miracle according to Doc
Christen. Her spine trembled. She glanced at him for the briefest moment. “Stay
back, Samuel.”

Elena startled when a man yanked the gun from her hand.
“Didn’t anyone teach you to keep your eye on the target?” He was tall, medium
build, and stood near enough that his warm breath brushed against her cheek.
“And never give up your weapon without a fight.”

Now I really, really
want to read it. How can readers find you on the Internet?

I love to connect with my readers. You can find me on these
social media sites:

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book.
You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us
where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject
to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the
number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of
eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any
pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on
this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You
will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz,
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave
your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Welcome, David. Tell
us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

Every writer draws on their own experiences. I’m no
different. It isn’t so much about specific characters as situations and
conversations that I’ve been in through the years. In that way, all of my
stories are autobiographical.

What is the quirkiest
thing you have ever done?

There are so many, I wouldn’t even hazard a guess at the
quirkiest. My life has been strange in at least 100 ways. One of those is my
tendency to fall in love with the idea of certain powerful, but soft women. As
a Fed, there was a high-ranking DOD official who personified the powerful and
the feminine. I asked one of my staff members to get me an 8x10 glossy and put
it up in my office with a candle under it. When I was asked to arrange a
conference, I asked her (through channels) to come and speak. She accepted. My
crush on her was well known to the 50 or so managers who attended. So after she
gave the best speech I’d ever heard and finished the rubber chicken lunch, I
helped her on with her coat. One of my colleagues yelled, “Way to go Dave.” The
whole place erupted in applause.

When did you first
discover that you were a writer?

In junior high school, I collaborated with a friend and
produced an informal Comedy Newspaper.
The administration shut us down … but I was hooked. At OhioState,
I wrote for the large student newspaper as part of the Journalism curriculum. My
stories were about the police beat (rapes, murders, etc.)

Tell us the range of
the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

As an adult, there is almost no book that can’t keep my
attention once I begin. My favorite author is Doris Lessing (The Grass is Singing, The Good Terrorist,
The Summer Before the Dark, If the Old Could, etc.) I read everything from
Max Lucado to Stephen King. Current favorites are Cynthia Ruchti and James
Rubart.

I love to read Max
Lucado, Cynthia Ruchti, and James Rubart. How do you keep your sanity in our
run, run, run world?

By writing a non-fiction book about it (Sabbatical of the Mind: The Journey from Anxiety to Peace.)
Available online and at select bookstores near you. But seriously folks, it is
all about Jesus. My troubles and pain pale in comparison with His love for me
and for you. It is all about focus. Do I look at my anxiety or my phobias or
His plan to love the person next to me?

How do you choose
your characters’ names?

Randomly. For most of us, names have connotations from past
relationships. I pick one that fits in my mind and world.

What is the
accomplishment that you are most proud of?

It is going to sound hokey, but having a part in leading
someone to Christ. It is the only thing that matters in the eternal scheme of
things. Of course, God does all the work, but it is an amazing feeling to see
someone walk from death into life.

I so agree with you.
That can give you such a spiritual high. If you were an animal, which one would
you be, and why?

This is pretty easy. I am obviously a big, slobbery Saint
Bernard. Do you want to know what’s in my keg? Do you? Do you? Diet Pepsi,
because that is what I would want if I got rescued.

What is your favorite
food?

Fajitas.

Nothing can beat
really good fajitas. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest
roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

Writer’s block, but I knocked it down and ran into the End
Zone.

Tell us about the
featured book.

Avec plaisir. (In
case my readers don’t know what that means, it’s with pleasure in French.) Driver
Confessional is the story of a hard-working family man who is driving
for a ride-share company while he attends law school. His Italian good looks
and personable, Christian way encourage riders to tell him more than they
intended. On a dark night, he drives a mysterious business woman to a Senate
office building. Based on her confession and something she leaves behind in the
car, Antonio gets drawn into a murder investigation, trouble with the Russian
mob and danger from corporate henchman. While the story is completely
self-contained, most of the major characters (who survive) will be back for
Book Two in the Driver Series.

Cool. Please give us
the first page of the book.

The black American-made sedan rolled up in front of the Palm
Restaurant near the campus of GeorgeWashingtonUniversity.
The Palm was one of Washington’s
most toney eateries, the place where the rich and powerful go to see and be
seen. As a Buber driver, Antonio enjoyed catching snatches of conversation from
these elite of Washington, DC, as he delivered or picked up passengers
here.

A few times the businessmen and women bragged of solidifying
their deals after parading their companions through Washington’s finest and dining on truly
memorable fare. From the street, the Palm was white tablecloths and dim
lighting. Inside, the sketches of famous patrons from politicos to opera
singers are plastered on the walls.

A group of students walking home from DuPont Circle passed between the Buber
car and the entrance to the Palm. Their lively conversation and laughter lit up
the night beyond the streetlights. When they cleared his line of sight, the
driver looked up to see a very attractive woman descend the few stairs to
street level. She wore a tailored, dark business suit and a small black hat
mounted to her coiffed hair. Her eyes trained downward, she navigated the steps
as she walked. He noticed the Gucci purse and phone in her right hand, which
indicated she was probably his next Buber fare. Her thin leather briefcase indicated
the dinner at the Palm was either work related or an after-work meet-up with a
friend.

Before Anthony could get out, she opened the rear passenger-side
door.

“Antonio?” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Her
deep red lipstick moved rhythmically as Antonio’s moniker left her mouth. In
the Buber world, everyone is on a first-name-only basis.

“That’s right. Glynis?” She nodded. “Let me help you!”
Antonio was out of his seat and over to her side in no time. She easily slid
into the back seat, juggling her briefcase, purse, and phone. Being a man,
Antonio couldn’t help but notice Glynis’s shapely legs. He gently closed the
door behind her and hopped into the front seat.

How can readers find
you on the Internet?

My website is www.sabbaticalofthemind.net
I have a groovy blog and everyone should sign up for my monthly missives about
important stuff like birds and God and things.

Thank you, David, for sharing this book with us. I'm eager to read it, and I know my readers are as well.Readers,
here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this
blog.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book.
You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us
where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject
to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the
number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of
eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any
pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on
this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You
will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz,
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave
your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Monday, May 29, 2017

Ronald (OH) is the winner of Unintended Consequences by Dan Walsh.Shelia (MS) is the winner of Brides of Black Horse Mesa~Texas by Patricia Pacjac Carroll.Melanie (TX) is the winner of Truck Stop Jesus by Buck Storm.If you won a book and you like it, please consider giving the author the courtesy of writing a review on Goodreads, Amazon.com, Christianbooks.com, Barnes and Noble, or other Internet sites. Also, tell your friends about the book ... and this blog. Thank you.

Congratulations, everyone. If you won a print book, send me your mailing address:Click the Contact Me link at the top of the blog, and send me an Email.If you won an ebook, just let me know what email address it should be sent to.

When you contact me, please give the title and author of the book you won, so I won't have to look it up.Remember, you have 4 weeks to claim your book.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Dear Readers, I’m
always glad to host Lisa Wingate on this blog. There’s a kind of funny story
about how we first met. A number of years ago, I can’t remember how many, I had
acquired a Lisa Wingate book. She is a fellow Texas author, and I really enjoyed the book,
because I’d been to some of the places she used as her setting. Her characters
leapt off the page right into my heart. When I finished, I found out she had a
book with the title Never Say Never. I
had a book with that title, too. They were vastly different books, but they led
to me contacting Lisa. I’ve featured many of her books on my blog, and they are
so different from mine. I haven’t read one that I didn’t love. Her stories stay
with the reader a long time.

Welcome back, Lisa. How
did this book come about?

For me, every piece of fiction begins with a spark. From
there, the story travels on the winds of research and imagination. Before
We Were Yours had the most unexpected kind of beginning.

I was up late one night working on materials for a different
story and had the TV playing in the background for company. A rerun of the Investigation Discovery: Dangerous Women
cycled through at about two in the morning. I looked up and saw images of an
old mansion. The front room was filled with bassinettes and babies. There were
crying babies, laughing babies, babies who were red-cheeked and sweaty-faced
and sickly looking. I tuned in and immediately became fascinated by the
bizarre, tragic, and startling history of Georgia Tann and her Memphis branch of the Tennessee Children’s
Home Society. One of the most shocking things about the story was how recent it
was. Georgia Tann and her children’s home operated from the 1920s through 1950.
After watching the segment, I literally could not clear the images from my
mind. I couldn't stop wondering about the thousands of children who had been
victimized by Georgia’s
system, who had been brokered in adoptions for profit.

What became of them? Where were they now?

I couldn’t help but dig into the story. I was shocked by the
scope of Georgia’s
network, the fact that she affected so many children, and the tragic
consequences of her cruelty and greed.

Wow, you’ve caught my
attention. Tell us about the book’s cover and what makes it unique.

The cover actually went through many iterations before we
landed on a combination that seemed just perfect for the story. I have to say,
of all of my book covers on over thirty novels now, this one is my favorite.
There’s just something about the posture of these two little girls that speaks
to me. They represent twelve-year-old Rill, a little girl growing up on her
parents’ Mississippi river shantyboat and her
young sister, Fern. When they and their five siblings are taken from their
parents one stormy night and placed in one of Georgia Tann’s orphan houses,
Rill struggles not only to protect herself, but to keep her siblings together.
That battle, to me is what this picture represents—the uncertainty of their
situation, the strength of their sibling bond, and Rill’s determination to
return to her free floating life on the river.

Please explain and
differentiate between what’s fact and fiction in the book.

Rill and her siblings in the novel and their shantyboat life
on the Mississippi river are fiction. Avery, the thirty-year-old
senator’s daughter in the modern-day portion of the novel is fictional as well.

The Foss children and Avery Stafford began taking shape as I
combed through accounts of birth parents who’d searched for their stolen
children for decades and adoptees who’d searched for their birth families.
Survivors of TCHS care, desperately seeking their true identities, were
confronted with systematic legislative roadblocks, altered paperwork, and
closely held secrets. Because powerful families and Hollywood
celebrities were involved in TCHS adoptions, and because many people felt that
the children should be left where they were, there was pressure to legalize
even the most irregular of Tann’s adoptions and seal the records, which was
exactly what happened.

As with most stories that are true or partially true, the
dividing line between good and evil is murky in the case of Georgia Tann and
her Memphis Tennessee Children’s Home Society. The journey of the Foss children
in the novel reflects this. Certainly, TCHS removed some children from unfit
birth families and facilitated adoptions into safe, loving homes that provided
great opportunity. Sadly, thousands of others were left with lasting damage and
questions that would never be answered.

I hope Before We Were Yours, in some way,
tells their stories. Yes, it’s fiction. Rill and her four siblings, growing up
on their family’s shantyboat in the Mississippi River
were figments of my imagination. But in a way, they existed. In a way, they are
any one and every one of these children, taken from their families, torn from
their lives with no explanation or understanding of what was happening, and
deposited into an unregulated, unfit, and politically corrupt system that
operated not based on child welfare, but on profit. Those were the stories I
wanted to tell––the stories told in the smallest voices or never told at all.

I’m glad you wrote
this story. I had been aware of this situation, but I didn’t know how long it
went on or how horrible some of the cases were. How much research did you have
to do for this book?

The book was research-intensive. I took in nearly everything
I could find about the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis and Georgia Tann. In large part, I
found bits of the story here and bits there. The Discovery Channel’s Deadly Women and 60 Minutes provided helpful information and visuals. Several books,
including, Babies For Sale by Linda Austin and The Baby Thief by Barbara Raymond were
particularly helpful in researching the adoption scandal. Harlan Hubbard’s Shantyboat Journal is a beautiful
account of shantyboat life on the river. I also spent time in Memphis, researching locations, combing
through the river museum, visiting the library and the university’s photo
archives, and talking to people who remembered the scandal.

What are some of the
most interesting things you found about this subject that you weren’t able to
use in the story?

Because Before We Were Yours is fiction, I
was able to thread in what I felt were the most interesting pieces of the
true-life history of Georgia Tann and her Memphis
branch of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. One interesting aspect of the
true story that isn’t in the novel is the special investigation that was
conducted as Georgia Tann’s operation was finally shut down in 1950. The
original report to Governor Browning was filled with information about Tann’s
nefarious methods, the deaths of children in her system of unregulated boarding
homes, and the sheer panic of adoptive families who were terrified that the
children they’d raised for years would be taken away. There were also some
wonderful newspaper stories written years later, telling of birth families
finally reunited.

What inspired and
surprised you while you were writing the book?

The resilience of the children who had survived stints in
TCHS care (and in the care of other orphans’ homes) and their determination to
regain their identities, to resist being defined by the circumstances they’d
been delivered into through no fault of their own.

What do you hope the
reader takes away from the story?

I hope readers take away the message that we need not be
defined by our pasts. I hope Rill’s experience resonates with readers who have
in some way surrendered to the wounds of painful past experiences. Rill faces
that battle as she matures. As an old woman, she advises thirty-year-old Avery,
“A woman’s past need not predict her future. She can dance to new music if she
chooses. Her own music. To hear it, she must only stop talking. To herself, I
mean. We’re always trying to persuade ourselves of things.” Living in a defensive
posture is another form of allowing other people to dictate who we are and what
we believe about ourselves. Letting go, dancing to our own music is a risk, but
on the other side of that process lays light, freedom, and fulfillment. That’s
what I hope people take away from Before We Were Yours. Our lives have
purpose, but to fulfill that purpose we must first claim ourselves.

I also hope that, in a broader sense, the story of Rill and
the Foss children serves to document the lives of all the children who
disappeared into Georgia Tann’s unregulated system. Only by remembering history
are we reminded not to let it repeat itself. It’s important that we, ordinary
people busy with the rush of everyday life, remember that children are
vulnerable, that on any given day, thousands of children live the uncertainty
of Rill’s journey. We have to be aware. We must be kind neighbors, determined
protectors, willing encouragers, wise teachers, and strong advocates, not just
for the children who are ours by birth, but for all children.

What is the next
project you’re working on?

I can’t imagine not being at work on a new story, and yes,
of course I am at work on another novel now. I think this will be novel number
thirty-one. As always, this new story began with a piece of history that was
huge in its day. Just a little over a century ago, anyone, anywhere would have
recognized the names. Today, hardly anyone would. Through fiction, I have the
chance to resurrect these people whose lives have gone into quiet slumber. I
learn about their world and slip into their lives. As always, the experience is
both challenging and wonderful. I’ve finished the first draft, which is always
the hard part. The first draft, for me, is about figuring out the story,
sifting through loads of raw ore and finding the gold nuggets. It’s hard work
and heavy lifting, backbreaking in a way. The second draft is about getting the
story into shape for other people to read–shining up the gold nuggets and
hanging them on a string. That’s the fun part.

What do you do when
you have to get away from the story for a while?

Photography! I love it and anyone who follows my Facebook
page will find tons of photos, from the vast mountain vistas to little wonders
that could easily go unnoticed underfoot. I love looking at life through the
lens of a camera.

Please give us the
first page of the book.

Baltimore, Maryland

A U G U S T 3, 1939

My story begins on a sweltering August night in a place I
will never set eyes upon. The room takes life only in my imaginings. It is
large most days when I conjure it. The walls are white and clean, the bed
linens crisp as a fallen leaf. The private suite has the very finest of
everything. Outside, the breeze is weary, and the cicadas throb in the tall
trees, their verdant hiding places just below the window frames. The screens
sway inward as the attic fan rattles overhead, pulling at wet air that has no
desire to be moved.

The scent of pine wafts in, and the woman’s screams press
out as the nurses hold her fast to the bed. Sweat pools on her skin and rushes
down her face and arms and legs, She’d be horrified if she were aware of this.

She is pretty. A gentle, fragile soul. Not the sort who
would intentionally bring about the catastrophic unraveling that is only, this
moment, beginning. In my multifold years of life, I have learned that most
people get along as best they can. They don’t intend to hurt anyone. It is
merely a terrible by-product of surviving.

It isn’t her fault, all that comes to pass after that one final,
merciless push. She produces the very last thing she could possibly want.
Silent flesh comes forth—a tiny, fair-haired girl as pretty as a doll, yet blue
and still.

The woman has no way of knowing her child’s fate, or if she
does know, the medications will cause the memory of it to be nothing but a blur
by tomorrow. She ceases her thrashing and surrenders to the twilight sleep,
lulled by the doses of morphine and scopolamine administered to help her defeat
the pain.

To help her release everything, and she will.

Sympathetic conversation takes place as doctors stitch and
nurses clean up what is left.

“So sad when it happens this way. So out of order when a
life has not even one breath in this world.”

“You have to wonder sometimes…why…when a child is so very
wanted….”

I am eager to read
the book. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book.
You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us
where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject
to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the
number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of
eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any
pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on
this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You
will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz,
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave
your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Welcome back, Beth. You
have a lot of books out now. What is your favorite setting to use in your
books?

My Surf’s Up series gives me the opportunity to include a
beach in every novella, which is a nice change from writing Amish stories in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The diversity keeps me from getting bored with either genre. Who doesn’t love
the beach? And the peacefulness of Amish country is a big draw also.

What do you look for
when you’re shopping for a book to buy for yourself?

Cover, plot, and REVIEWS. We are all told the importance of
reviews, and I rely heavily on what other readers have said about a book. I
almost always read a sample before I make a purchase.

I’m with you on that.
There are certain things I look for in the review that will determine whether I
get the book or not. Please give us a little tour of the setting for this book.

This book is set at MustangIsland in Port Aransas, Texas. Once I had that
setting established, I wanted my hero to be a traveling journalist who was
covering the top beaches for shell collecting in the United States. I was thrilled when
I found out San JoseIsland is on that list AND that it was a ten-minute
ferry ride from MustangIsland. I’ve been to MustangIsland
a lot of times over the years, and I’ve been to San JoseIsland
twice.

What other books do
you have coming out soon?

I partnered with Ruth Reid, Kelly Irvin, and Amy Clipston
for An Amish Christmas, a novella
collection slated to release in August 2017. Book #3 in my Amish Secrets series—Home All Along—releases in September
2017.

We need to be sure
that both of those books are scheduled to appear on my blog. My readers will
love them. Please give us a glimpse inside your home.

We are empty nesters living in the country in South Central
Texas, so it’s very quiet—inside and outside. I have a lovely office that I
enjoy writing in, when it’s clean, lol. Otherwise, I typically write on my
couch in the living room. We have a bright sunroom that overlooks the pool, and
it’s also a nice place to write. My husband took up the piano about three years
ago, and even as I write this I am listening to him practice. I’m proud of him
for taking up a new passion later in life. He loves it, and I like listening to
him play. I love to cook, so I stay busy in my kitchen, and I believe I need to
own every kitchen gadget known to man, lol.

My husband bought me
an Instant Pot for Mother’s Day because he heard me say I wanted one. I’m
learning to use it now. Is this novel part of a series or a stand-alone book?

The Shell Collector’s Daughter is book #3 in my Surf’s Up
series. Other novellas in the collection are A Tide Worth Turning and Message
In A Bottle. I also included a short story and sampler of the other stories
in Christmas by the Sea.

Tell us about the
story.

From the back cover:

Each Surf’s Up novella takes the reader to a beach locale,
weaving romance and adventure into a soul-soothing journey of hope. Carianna's
story is a heartwarming tale which follows one woman's journey as she navigates
the many types of love God gifts to us.

Carianna isn’t like other twenty-six-year-old women. She’s never been on a
date, never experienced the euphoria of a first kiss, and certainly never been
in love. Can a man’s heart speak to hers in a way that she can understand? And
if so, will any man believe that she sings with the angels and has tea with
God? Will they see the stardust twinkling in her eyes or hear the secret
whispers of the ocean in a sea shell?

Dominic is grieving the death of his mother, so he welcomes a job opportunity that
takes him to a beach community on the Texas
coast. But what begins as a distraction and change of scenery shifts into a
healing journey filled with discovery. Amidst his heartache, Dominic finds love
in a beautiful and unexpected way when he meets Carianna—the shell collector’s
daughter.

But can Dominic convince Carianna’s father to lift his protective wings and
allow Carianna to soar into the life that God meant for her? And will Carianna
hear Dominic’s heart speaking to hers in a way that she understands?

Please give us the
first page of the book.

Carianna sat across the table from God, the way she’d done
every Thursday for as long as she could remember. In the backyard of her
father’s shop, there was an oak tree with limbs that were hundreds of years
old—three hundred and twelve God had told her. Protective branches formed a
dome over Carianna’s head, even though no protection was needed on
Thursdays.

Her father’s shop was far enough away from the beach that
Carianna couldn’t hear the breaking of the waves, but it was close enough to
inhale the briny smells of the ocean. A perfect breeze swirled amid the
branches of the old tree as Carianna took a sip of her raspberry tea. She loved
living on MustangIsland, and she loved
these visits with God.

“I’m sending someone into your life, Carianna,” God said as
He lifted His blue cup to His lips. “A man of My choosing, a person to be with
you for the rest of your days on Earth.”

Carianna frowned as her stomach clenched. “I have my father
for that.” She stared at God, and without knowing why or how, Carianna knew He
was perfect. Perfect love. A smile replaced her sour expression. “And I have
You.”

Her friend set His cup on the worn wooden table, and He
folded one hand on top of the other. God’s hands were wrinkled, like her
father’s, and God’s gray hair swept sideways in wiry wisps to one side of His
tanned face. A face filled with connecting lines, spidery and deep. She
believed God to be older than her father, but it was hard to know for sure.

I love it already. How
can readers find you on the Internet?

My website is www.BethWiseman.com.
You can read samples of all of my books there. I’m also at Fans of Beth Wiseman
on Facebook, and @bethwiseman on Twitter.

Thank you for having me again, Lena.
It’s always an honor to be a guest on your blog.

Beth, it’s a pleasure
to host you and introduce your books to my readers. You’re a real favorite of
mine … and of my readers.

Readers,
here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this
blog.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book.
You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us
where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject
to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the
number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of
eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any
pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on
this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You
will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz,
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave
your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Monday, May 22, 2017

Dear readers, I’m
thrilled to introduce you to Susan if you haven’t found her before. And this
book is a wonderful, strong suspense novel. I’m reading it right now, and it is
really keeping me guessing. I like that. Often I figure out a suspense novel
by the time I'm in the middle of the book. I’m way more than halfway through and still wondering.

Welcome back, Susan. How
did you come up with the idea for this story?

I love to look at the current news headlines and then ask a what if question to create a twist that
makes the topic interesting and compelling, and that’s exactly what I did with Fatal
Mistake.

If you were planning
a party with Christian authors of contemporary fiction, what six people would
you invite and why?

I would invite other authors who write romantic suspense so
I could talk to them about the market and also share how thankful I am that
there are other authors writing in the same genre. So that would include
authors such as Elizabeth Goddard, Dani Pettrey, Lynette Eason, Dee Henderson, Lisa
Harris, and Irene Hannon.

I love the books
written by all of these authors. Now let’s do that for a party for Christian
authors of historical fiction, what six people would you invite and why?

Well, this is embarrassing. I don’t read historical fiction
so other than you, Lena, I can’t name any
authors in that genre. I’d love to have dinner with you though, if I am ever in
Texas again! J

And I’d love to have
dinner with you. I do hope you will be at ACFW conference this year. After
missing three in a row, I’ll be there. It is so close to where I live. Many
times, people (and other authors) think you have it made with so many books
published. What is your most difficult problem with writing at this time in
your career?

My biggest problem is finding fresh and new ways to put a
heroine in danger. You can only try to put them in harm’s way so many ways, and
after twenty-five plus books, it’s getting challenging. But it’s also fun in
that it causes me to be creative and look for new things. For example, in the
new series I am working on right now, I start with the heroine being cornered
by a bucking bull in a rodeo arena. I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be
researching rodeos and the cowboys who participate in them, but it’s been very
interesting. I even got my daughter to watch a bucking bull rider series on
Netflix with me. Now she wants to go to a rodeo.

Tell us about the
featured book.

Fatal Mistake is book one in my White Knight’s series. The
series features an FBI Critical Incident Response Team that includes experts in
crisis management, explosives, ballistics/weapons, negotiating/criminal
profiling, cyber crimes, and forensics. All team members are former military
and they stand ready to deploy within four hours, anytime and anywhere to
mitigate the highest-priority threats facing our nation. Each book also
features a story ripped from today’s headlines. In Fatal Mistake, the FBI
agent must protect a woman who can identify a terrorist bomber all the while
trying to catch the bomber.

Here’s the back cover description for Fatal Mistake:

Each day could be her last...but not if he can help it.

Tara Parrish is the only person ever to survive an attack by
the Lone Wolf bomber. Scared and emotionally scarred by her near death, she
goes into hiding with only one plan—to stay alive for another day. She knows
he's coming after her, and if he finds her, he will finish what he started.

AgentCal
Riggins has had only one goal for the past six months—to save lives by ending
the Lone Wolf's bombing spree. To succeed, he needs the help of Tara Parrish,
the one person who can lead them to the bomber. Cal
puts his all into finding Tara, but once he
locates her, he realizes if he can find her, the Lone Wolf can, too. He must
protect Tara at all costs, and they'll both
need to resist the mutual attraction growing between them to focus on hunting
down the bomber, because one wrong move could be fatal.

Please give us the
first page of the book for my readers.

Spotsylvania County, Virginia

Thursday, April 28

7:50 p.m.

He was coming for her, and he was close.

He’d parked on the driveway and would soon head for the pump
house, taking long strides. Spaced evenly, methodical, as she knew Mr.
Perfectionist would take, his footsteps rustling over dead grass, bringing him
closer.

At the door, he would twist the rusty knob. Step inside.
Spot her. She could almost hear his thoughts when he did.

I was sloppy. Now she knows. Do I let her live? Kill her?
How can I dispose of the body?

The body. Ha! Her. He was going to kill her. She’d grown up
with him. Lived next door for years, but he had no choice now. He had to know
she wouldn’t keep quiet about this…this what? She didn’t even know what to call
it.

She swept her gaze over the rough-hewn table, pausing at
neat piles of white blocks covered in green cellophane. Explosives—military
grade, like she’d seen in briefings in her job as a government translator. The
blocks sat solidly among triggers, wires, pipes, and items she couldn’t
identify. Items for a bomb. Maybe several bombs. Pages and pages of diagrams,
maps, and other papers were scattered beside the equipment.

Recent television news stories raced through her brain.
Explosions on the first of every month. The destruction. Chaos and confusion.
Nothing more than burned-out shells left behind. Death. Muslim women. Always
women.

Oh my gosh! Oren. Her childhood best friend was a killer. A
terrorist. The Lone Wolf Bomber. No…no. Couldn’t be, right? But the evidence…

His car door slammed in the distance, the echo reverberating
through the quiet.

He’s coming.

She had to escape, but how? The only door and window in the
tiny building led to the path he’d take.

Readers, see. I told
Susan’s writing is wonderful. Now, Susan, how can readers find you on the
Internet?

To learn more about me readers can stop by any of these
locations on the web.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book.
You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us
where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject
to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the
number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of
eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any
pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on
this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You
will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz,
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave
your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link: Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Sabrina (UT) is the winner of Cinderella's Boot/Runaway Brides by Darlene Franklin.Sharon (SC) is the winner of Coming Home by Michael Ehret.Lourdes (NY) is the winner of the ebook Autumn Love by Lena Nelson Dooley and others.If you won a book and you like it, please consider giving the author the courtesy of writing a review on Goodreads, Amazon.com, Christianbooks.com, Barnes and Noble, or other Internet sites. Also, tell your friends about the book ... and this blog. Thank you.

Congratulations, everyone. If you won a print book, send me your mailing address:Click the Contact Me link at the top of the blog, and send me an Email.If you won an ebook, just let me know what email address it should be sent to.

When you contact me, please give the title and author of the book you won, so I won't have to look it up.Remember, you have 4 weeks to claim your book.

Friday, May 19, 2017

Dear Readers,
Patricia Pacjac Carroll is a dear friend of mine. She’s a very popular author
on Amazon. Most of her books are westerns, and I love them. I think you will,
too.

Welcome back, Patty. Why did you become an
author?

I have stories that attack me and want to be told. I believe
the Lord gave me a gift and I love it.

If you weren’t an
author, what would be your dream job?

This my dream job.

If you could have
lived at another time in history, what would it be and why?

Well, I love the old West, but to be honest, I am totally
spoiled in the time that the Lord has placed me in. Not sure I would be happy without
electricity and computers and AC.

Amen to that, Patty. What
place in the United States
have you not visited that you would like to?

Alaska.

Me, too, that and Hawaii. How about a
foreign country you hope to visit?

Israel

What lesson has the
Lord taught you recently?

Humility. And that is
an ongoing lesson. Lol

I became haughty and would tell people that if you gave me a
name or place~ I’d come up with a story. And then one foggy night, I needed a
story to put in an anthology for Christmas and proceeds to go to a charity.
Well, friends gave me a name, a place, and my mind was blank. There was no
story. It was due at noon the next day. I went to bed sad. I could not come up
with a story. And I was a bit shaken. I boasted about being able to come up
with stories, and I’d hit a dry well. But GOD, He got hold of me and told me the stories are His. I woke up
at 5:30 AM and had a picture of a cowboy on a horse pulling a Christmas tree
and knew I had a story and that wasn’t even where the story started. And I did.
I wrote the story and turned it in before noon. God is good.

Yes, He is. Please tell
us about the featured book?

Brides of Black Horse Mesa is a collection of three mail-order
bride novellas. I love these books. The characters surprised me at every turn.
It all starts when the oldest of three brothers decides he needs a wife. Wait
until you read Greta’s solution to her predicament at the end of her story. Tom
and Maggie start their story off in a crazy twist that leads to Matt’s story. I
hope you’ll enjoy these stories. I sure had a fun time writing them.

I am eager to read
them. Please give us the first page of the book.

Greta’s Story

Iowa

1867

Greta Pederson
lifted the beaten plant and groaned at the sight of the bug infested squash.
Gone. What the insects hadn’t eaten, last night’s hail had ruined. They were
finished. She dreaded going into the little farmhouse to tell Grandpapa.

She stretched
her back. The letters in her pocket crinkled, reminding her of the possible
escape from their dire circumstances. Perhaps her grandfather wouldn’t be so
set against the idea of leaving the farm. She brushed the dirt from her hands,
fished the first letter from her pocket, and opened it.

Wanted: A
respectable woman twenty years to twenty five. Must not be ugly. Blonde hair a
plus. Must know how to cook good and be friendly. I have a good ranch. Come
west to Texas
and Black Horse Mesa. Ask for Chase Logan.

She stuffed
the letter back into the envelope. She’d already written to Chase and told him
she’d come, and he’d quickly sent her the money for the travel fares. Dreading
what she had to do, she trudged to the ramshackle two-room house.

Opening the
door, her heart sank at the sight of the old man sitting in the rocker. Gently,
she nudged him. “Grandpapa, we need to talk.”

Waking, he
rubbed his eyes and stared at her. “Henny?”

She shook her
head. Poor man more often than not drifted to the other world her Grandmother
had passed into. “No, it’s me, Greta.”

“Ah, I see
better now.” His eyes brightened. “What is it my little Greta girl wants?”

“I’ve made up
my mind. I’m going to Texas
to Black Horse Mesa and marry Chase Logan. I’m taking you with me.” Shocked
that she’d included him in her plans, she knew that was the only thing she
could do. She couldn’t leave him alone.

I know my readers
will love this story, too. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the ebook.
You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us
where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject
to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the
number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of
eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any
pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on
this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You
will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz,
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave
your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Bio: Dan Walsh is the
bestselling author of 18 novels including The
Unfinished Gift, The Discovery, and
When Night Comes. He has won 3 Carol Awards (finalist 6 times), 3 Selah
Awards and 4 of his books have been finalists for RT Review’s Inspirational
Book of the Year. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and
Word Weavers International, Dan writes fulltime in the Daytona
Beach
area. He and his wife Cindi have been married 40 years. You can find out more
about his books or follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or Pinterest from
his website at http://www.danwalshbooks.com.

I love both types of Dan's books. Welcome back, Dan. Tell
us a little about yourself and your background.

Well, let’s see…I’ve been married for 40 years to the only
woman I’ve ever loved. We have 2 grown children, both married, and 3
grandchildren. Way back in high school, I thought I would be writing novels for
a living. Life took me in a different direction. I wound up experiencing a call
to ministry and, after years of study and preparation, became a pastor at age
28. I pastored the same church for the next 25 years, but never lost my love of
fiction (although I only read novels, didn’t write a thing). Around year 22, I
began writing a Christmas novel, called The
Unfinished Gift. It’s a long story, but that novel became the catalyst for
an eventual shift over the next few years from pastoring to writing fulltime. I
“made the leap” in 2010 and now, with my newest novel, have written 18 novels.
How did you become
interested in writing?
It happened in 11th Grade. After almost flunking Chemistry,
I took a semester of creative writing and discovered, not only did I really
like it, but I was pretty good at it. Every paper I turned in got an A+. After
the class was over, the teacher pulled me aside and said I was one of the most
gifted writers she’d ever had. Then she added, “You could be a writer if you
wanted to.”

What compelled you to
write a book on this subject?

Unintended Consequences is actually Book 3 in my Jack Turner
Suspense series. What compelled me to write it? Keeping the series going,
because I love writing it. It’s got all the things I love in a book series. Not
just as a writer but as a reader, too. Great characters, a multi-layered plot
that combines history with the present, romance, unexpected surprises, and a decades-old
family mystery.

What is the main
theme or point that you want readers to understand from reading your book? Are
there any other themes present in the book? Unlike my more inspirational novels (the ones I’m probably
better known for writing), this series doesn’t really have a strong spiritual
theme. I’d put it more under the heading of good, clean Christian
entertainment. I love reading suspense/thriller stories but secular books in
this genre, though often having great plots, also have immoral bedroom scenes
and main characters who swear a lot. I wanted to write similar exciting stories
but put credible, likable Christian characters in the lead roles.

Are there some
specific lessons you hope readers will learn and apply to their lives after
reading your book?

Maybe in an indirect way. Because the main characters are
credible believers, I’m sure people can learn lessons from the way they handle
the various levels of adversity they encounter throughout the story. Plus,
since I write relationally-driven books, there is a lot of give-and-take on the
relational side of things, as well.

How does the book
intertwine with God’s call on your life and how you are currently serving Him?

I’m not sure it does, except in a general way. That is, to
write stories that, while entertaining, also encouraged clear Biblical values.

Do you have a
favorite Scripture verse?

That’s a hard one. I’d feel more comfortable saying, I have
a hundred favorites. Or else, several favorite verses for different situations.

When you are not
writing, what do you like to do? Do you have any hobbies?

I like reading. We love spending time with our kids and
grandkids. Since we live in Florida,
we really enjoy going to the beach. Recently, my wife and I are taking up metal
detecting as a hobby.

As we close, is there
anything else you would like to add?

Two things that I’d like my readers to know (and future
readers). First, even though Unintended Consequences is Book 3 of
a suspense series, I write all my series-novels so they can be easily read as a
stand-alone (don’t have to be read in order). And second, I really do enjoy
writing both kinds of books, suspense and inspirational (my more
“Nicholas-Sparks type” books). I plan to keep writing both, going forward. In
fact, I’m now going to start researching Book 3 in my Forever Home series (the
one where Rescuing Finley is Book 1).

Where can my readers
find you on the Internet?

Probably the easiest way is to go to my homepage at www.danwalshbooks.com. There you’ll
find buttons to connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. They can
also sign up to get my Newsletter. I don’t send many out, but I always let my
Newsletter friends get the latest updates on new books or great book deals. People
can also email me at dwalsh@danwalshbooks.com.

Thank you, Dan, for sharing this book with us.

Readers, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you
order, you help support this blog.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book.
You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us
where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject
to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the
number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of
eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any
pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on
this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You
will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz,
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave
your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link: